ARMENIAN FM FLIES TO BURKINA FASO FOR FRANCOPHONE SUMMIT
ArmenPress
Nov 24 2004
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign affairs minister
Vartan Oskanian has left today for Ouagadou, the capital city of
Burkina Faso that will host November 26-27 the 2004 Francophone summit.
The official theme of the 10th Francophone Summit is, “La Francophonie,
espace solidaire pour un developpement durable.
The ministry said the summit is expected to grant Armenia the status of
observer in the 51-nation Francophone world. Armenia is already member
of several Francophone-affiliated organizations-the International Union
of French-Speaking Capital Cities and the International Assembly of
French-Speaking Parliament Members.
The Armenian ministry said the observer status and later the status
of a full member will allow Armenia to enter into direct contacts and
establish cooperation with tens of African countries, constituting
the bulk of the organization.
The 10-th Francophone summit will be attended by some heads of states,
particularly, France’s Jacques Chirac and Lebanon’s president. Also
Georgia, Austria, Hungary and Croatia are seeking the observer status
with Armenia, Georgia will be represented by its foreign minister
Salome Surabichvili.
The leaders of member countries are expected to review the results
of the 4-year plan adopted at the 2002 summit, and tackle the
full-10 year plan they expect to adopt at the 2006 summit. They will
consider priorities for legal action and co-operation within the bloc,
following through on a decision at the 9th summit to penalize, even
expel, dictators and corrupt leaders in la Francophonie. The move
into politics marks a departure: past summits focused on cultural
and economic issues, and avoided potentially explosive issues and
criticism of corrupt regimes.